Carl & Mary Lou Martin Scholarship
Rev. Dr. Carl E. Martin learned early the value of family and work on the farm near Holcomb (KS). After graduating from Garden City (KS) High School, Carl made his way to Winfield (KS) to attend Southwestern Collge where he and Mary Lou would meet. Carl was a member of the Class of 1960 graduating from Southwestern College with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in history, speech and political science. His advanced degrees include Master of Divinity (1963), Master of Arts (1965) and Doctorate in Education Administration (1998).
Carl served as President of his alma mater 1988-1998, previously service as chaplain and as a member of the faculty before taking the reins in leading the college. In 2009 Southwestern College inducted Carl into the Social Sciences Hall of Fame.
Mary Lou (Bauer) Martin was born July 22, 1938, and died Sept. 8, 2015. Mary Lou was the daughter of Chester E. and Naomi Anderson Bauer, and grew up in Hudson, Kan., graduating from Hudson High School in 1956. She was a loving wife and mother, beloved friend of many, a musician, and an artist.
She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance and music education in 1960 from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., and a Master of Music degree in 1962 from Northwestern University.
She was an organist and choir director at several churches, and directed many children’s musicals in that role. She was an elementary music education specialist in the Great Bend, Arkansas City, Buhler, Winfield, and Wichita (Cloud Elementary School) school districts. For five years, Mary Lou was the accompanist for the Kansas Boys Choir in Hutchinson. She was the founding director of the Walnut Valley Youth Choir in Winfield and directed that choir from 1991 to 1998.
From 1988-98 when Mary Lou’s husband was president of Southwestern College she was the college’s First Lady, filling several roles including being the welcoming and gracious hostess for events on the campus and was inducted into the Educators Hall of Fame at Southwestern College in 2006. Later Mary Lou was a program consultant for Arts Partners and docent for the Wichita Art Museum.
As member of College Hill United Methodist Church she participated in the Contemporary Studies Class and was a member of the choir for 15 years.
Mary Lou and Carl shared 55 years as husband and wife. Their family was includes a son, Andrew Timothy Martin; and a daughter, Mary Megann (Martin) Kennedy. The Martins were blessed with four grandchildren, Jacob, Zachary and Katie Martin, and Grant Kennedy.
Their memoir “Gatherings Along The Way,” a collection of art and words compiled by Carl E. and Mary Lou Martin, reveals the ways Mary Lou and Carl found to express and reveal her gifts as an artist and their mutual appreciation for excellence in the arts. In the preface Carl wrote “The art and words presented here reveal the spirit of Mary Lou and our mutual and shared quest for meaning and purpose in life.” The charitable work of the Mary Lou and Carl Martin Fund supports activities that carry out the mission expressed by Kurt Masuer (The Gifts of Music, 1994) “We should never forget to teach our children to be able to experience the beauty of life.”
Guidelines
MASTER Guidelines Carl Martin Scholarship.docx